


Twice Lost

by xylazine



Series: Burdens We Bear [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drabble Collection, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 17:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19468324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xylazine/pseuds/xylazine
Summary: Not all goes as planned on the battlefield against a sin eater.





	Twice Lost

Thancred readied his blade to attack the sin eater again, even knowing this was a battle he would not win. There was nowhere to run and his reserves were near empty. "Minfilia! Go now. I'll stave off its attack. You must leave at once." 

He didn't want to let on that he would perish here. She would surely hesitate if she knew. He quickly glanced over his shoulder to still see her rooted in place. "Now, girl!" 

The beast dropped a claw to his blade and he shuddered against the force. He pushed his opponent back, breathing heavily. He couldn't hold off much longer. He charged in again, ever the hero. He promised he'd protect her. He promised his Minfilia he would look after her. Even as tangled and complicated as it all were, he would let no harm befall the child. 

The sin eater swatted him aside, using his momentum to throw him into the stone wall. He cried out on impact, falling to the ground. He weakly pushed himself to his knees, waiting for the haze of his vision to pass. He prayed she had fled. It wouldn't be much longer now. 

Once the room came back to focus, he saw the beast charging him again, it's sword raised high. He half heartedly lifted his gunblade to deflect the blow. The blow that never came. 

A flash of white darted in front of him and time slowed down. He couldn't move fast enough to stop what happened next. The sin eater didn't halt its attack, its sword finding purchase in his wards chest. She may have been protected from its light, but she was still mortal. He or she- or maybe they both- cried out. The sin eater pulled its sword back and Minfilia slumped to the ground. He rushed to her side, catching her before she fell. 

Minfilia lay weak in his arms, her life force leaving her even now. Thancred looked down at her and grasp her hand. "Hold on, Minfilia."

"It's all right." She took his hand between her own. "You can be with her now. I was never meant to exist. She'll return to you."

Thancred shook his head. "No. This life was yours to live. I... I've been foolish. Living in the past. I couldn't let go and it wasn't fair to you." He couldn't bear to tell her forfeiting her life like this wouldn't allow his Minfilia to return. She needed a living vessel, not a mortally wounded one. 

Minfilia smiled weakly. "I understood. I.. Thank you for all that you've done for me. You showed me compassion and freed me from my prison. I enjoyed our time together. I... I hope you did too." 

A sob shook Thancred's shoulders. "I did. I'm sorry I never showed it better. Without you, I don't know that I would have made it this long in this world."

"I'm glad." She smiled again, serenity washing over her face. Her hand fell away from his and he reached to grasp then again.

"No, please."

But he could tell it was too late, her life force nearly drained. "You did well, Thancred."

He looked up to see Minfilia, the Minfilia he had known before, standing as a specter before him. Around them, time had come to a stop. The sin eater was frozen in the background. Its face was placid as its sword was drawn again, likely for his head this time. If it were to be his end, he would embrace it. He failed both of them. What use was a protector that couldn't protect? 

He bowed his head. "No, I didn't. I wasn't enough then or now..."

Minfilia shook her head. "You know the price of war. She knew the price of war. And yet she was still willing to give her life so you may live."

He grit his jaw. "It should have been me. She has much to accomplish yet. I'm just a washed up mercenary with too much blood on my hands."

Her expression softened. Though she were not corporeal, he swore he felt her touch on his head. "You always were too hard on yourself."

Minfilia knelt before her younger self. "It is time to rejoin me, child, that our essence might again be born as a symbol of hope."

Aether shimmered in the air before settling into an ethereal version of the child in his arms. Minfilia took her younger self's hand and turned to walk away. She paused, and glanced over her shoulder at the grieving man." You, too, deserve a rest, Thancred. There is still much for you to accomplish. Especially without dedicating your life's purpose to us."

The two Minfilia's dissipated into the air and the battle came roaring back to motion. Milliseconds before the sword came crashing into him, though, he found himself transported. It took a few moments to gather his bearings but he found himself in a room of sorts. It wasn't his own, that was certain.

He walked to the desk and picked up a leather bound tome. "Minfilia's diary" was scrawled on the front. He opened it and the pages fell to a random page. 

"I hope one day to show Thancred just how strong I am. He worries about me, even if he won't show it. I know the reason for his distance and while it's hard, I know that he would give his life for me. I hope it doesn't come to that. I won't want him to owe me any more than he already does. I can't imagine how he can look at my face and not see her. Not be reminded of her. I wish I knew more about her but he's tight lipped around her as he is himself. Maybe one day I'll learn more about them both. Until then, I'll keep training and I'll show him that he doesn't need to protect me. One day, I'll protect him."

He bowed his head over the tome and sunk to his knees. It should have been him. Why did she have to go and be the savior again? Was it his destiny to keep losing her?


End file.
